Mass Production of Images as a Ritual Practice

Kunsang Namgyal-Lama

Molded Clay Image (Tsatsa) of Amoghapasha; Guge, Ngari region, western Tibet; 11th–12th century; sun-dried clay; 3¼ × 2½ × 3¼ in. (9.5 × 6.3 × 3 cm); Private collection; photograph by Rémi Chaix

Molded Clay Image (Tsatsa) of Amoghapasha

Guge, Ngari region, western Tibet 11th–12th century

Molded Clay Image (Tsatsa) of Amoghapasha; Guge, Ngari region, western Tibet; 11th–12th century; sun-dried clay; 3¼ × 2½ × 3¼ in. (9.5 × 6.3 × 3 cm); Private collection; photograph by Rémi Chaix

Summary

Art historian Kunsang Namgyal-Lama examines one of the hundreds of thousands of tsatsas—small clay images pressed from molds—that monks and laypeople in Tibet regularly produce. Kashmiri and Indian teachers taught this devotional practice in western Tibet from the tenth century onward, and the clay images of deities, stupas, and texts reflect the complex religious landscape of the time. Often made during funeral rituals, tsatsas are placed into stupas or around holy sites to this day.

Key Terms

consecration

In most Asian religious traditions, when an image of a deity is made, it must be made sacred (“consecrated”) by inviting the deity to inhabit it. A variety of rituals can be involved in this, including dotting the image’s eyes, visualizing the descent of the deity into the image, writing mantras on the back of a thangka, or placing sacred texts and mantras inside of a statue.

dharani

In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharani is a short, Sanskrit language text or spell-like formulas thought to have protective power when written or recited out loud, often as part of a ritual. Often inscribed on objects or at sacred sites, their power through the written physical presence is associated with long life, purification, and protection. Dharanis are similar to mantras, but usually longer. One important dharani is the Ushnishavijaya Dharani. The Pancharaksha is another important text that contains five dharanis of protection.

pratityasamutpada

In Buddhist philosophical thinking, pratityasamutpada is an explanation of the continuous processes of causation that create the cycle of rebirths. A simple explanation of pratityasamutpada is that no thing or thought exists eternally and of itself; everything that exists arises in dependence on causes and conditions, and passes away, producing further effects. Buddhist logic posits twelve links in this cycle of causation, beginning with ignorance and ending with death. These links are depicted as the outer circular band in the Wheel of Life paintings.

merit

In Buddhism, merit is accumulated positive karma, or positive actions, that lead to positive results, such as better rebirths. Buddhists gain merit by reciting mantras, donating to monasteries and those in need, performing pilgrimages, commissioning artworks, reproducing and reciting Buddhist texts, and other deeds with good intentions. It is believed that merit can also be transferred to others through rituals performed to gain merit for deceased family members help them achieve a better rebirth. Merit making is an important motivation for positive ritual action, and is a prerequisite for success of religious and even secular activity.

relic

In the Buddhist context, a relic is an object or body part of a past master or sacred figure, including Buddha Shakyamuni himself (bones, ashes from cremation, even entire mummified bodies). Another important category of relics is called “sharira” in Sanskrit (Tib. ringsel)— small, pearl-like objects that are found within the cremated remains of enlightened teachers. Another category, known as contact relics, includes things owned or touched by religious masters, such as the Buddha’s robe or bowl. Important types widely used in Himalayan regions are dharma relics (dharma sharira), which are pressed clay plaques inscribed with the verse of dependent origination or mantras. Relics can be placed inside stupas, ground up and used for medicine, or kept in temples for the reverence of pilgrims. A container that holds relics is called a “reliquary.”

stupa

Stupas are monuments that initially contained cremated remains of Buddha Shakyamuni or important monks, his disciples, and subsequently other material and symbolic relics associated with the Buddha’s body, teaching, and enlightened mind. As representations of the Buddha’s presence in the world, stupas with their contents—texts, relics, tsatsas—continue to be important objects of Buddhist worship in their diverse forms of domed structures, multistoried pagodas, and portable sculptures. The original form of stupas was an earthen dome-shaped mound containing the remains in reliquary vessels or urns deposited within the innermost core. The dome would often be successively enlarged and surrounded by a path for a walk around in a clockwise direction and veneration (circumambulation)

tsatsa

In Tibetan Buddhism, a tsatsa is a small sculpture created by pressing clay into a mold. Tsatsas can depict deities, stupas, auspicious signs, and more. Some tsatsas have medicinal plants, or the cremated ashes of loved ones mixed into the clay and taken to various sacred sites to generate merit for their better rebirth. In Newar context, a grain of rice is added. Tsatsas are created to generate religious merit and are often consecrated and then placed within stupas, or made by pilgrims and devotees and left at sacred sites. Tibetans have been creating tsatsas since around the eleventh century, and tsatsa making remains a common practice among lay devotees today.

This clay plaque, recovered from western Tibet, constitutes a particularly noteworthy example of a tsatsa from the later spread of (tenpa chidar, late 10th–13th century). Made using a mold, this type of image was abundantly produced in the Tibetan world. The ritual of making tsatsas spread to Tibet beginning in the second half of the eighth century. However, it was only at the end of the tenth century that this practice of Indian origin underwent major developments in Tibet, as evidenced by archaeological findings and by the copious ritual literature. According to later Tibetan traditions, the great Indian teacher Atisha (ca. 982–1054) played a central role in developing the practice of making tsatsas in Tibet.

Canonical texts primarily advocate making tsatsas as part of ritual practices associated with the production and merit (tsoksak), as well as with the purification of negative deeds and obscurations (dikdrib jang). Though tsatsas have been generally produced to serve as deposits to be placed inside or for the final stage of funerary rituals, the reasons for making them and their uses in the Tibetan context have largely varied over the centuries. Parallel to ritual and textual developments, images depicted on tsatsas display rich iconographic diversity and evidence the same stylistic trends as those that influenced every other Tibetan artistic production.

The earliest tsatsas made in western Tibet during the later spread of Buddhism, initiated by the rulers of Guge and at the end of the tenth century, provide relevant and particularly rich documentary resources for the study of Tibetan art history.

Iconography of Amoghapasha and Kashmiri Aesthetics

This sun-dried tsatsa depicts an aspect of Avalokiteshvara called , the one with the “unfailing lasso,” a characteristic attribute that the holds here in his upper left hand. The Tibetan inscription of his mantra, scattered around his image, further helps to establish the identification. In this unusual and rare four-armed form, Amoghapasha is depicted sitting in a relaxed pose, his left leg pendent, the foot resting on a lotus pad. The first right hand, raised in the gesture of argumentation (vitarka mudra), holds a rosary, while the second one grasps the branch of an unidentified plant bearing small flowers. The first left hand, placed on his thigh, holds the stalk of a fully open lotus flower that is level with his face, right next to the lasso, each extremity of which ends with a half . A third eye is visible on his forehead, and a small effigy of appears against his towering coiffure. He wears an antelope skin over his left shoulder. Like several other Indian sculptures or paintings from depicting Amoghapasha, this one does not conform exactly to the various iconographic descriptions given in textual sources.

On stylistic grounds, this small image reflects a strong Kashmiri aesthetic, specifically, in the treatment of the physiognomic and facial features, the tall ascetic chignon, and the jewelry, which are also found on existing Kashmiri bronzes. Under the patronage of the Guge and Purang rulers, the Kashmiri style deeply inspired the art of the western regions of the Tibetan Plateau during the later spread of Buddhism. The invitation of Indian religious masters and artists to work in newly built temples, such as and Tabo, and the creation of numerous Buddhist receptacles (stupas, paintings, sculptures) contributed to the diffusion and adoption of foreign iconographic and stylistic elements.

The molds were either brought from India or created in the Tibetan context. Note that several molds were engraved after their production with new inscriptions. For example, on this tsatsa of Amoghapasha, the layout of his , which is displayed vertically in a discontinuous manner on the available space around the , suggests a later inscription in Tibetan uchen script, while the “verse of Interdependent origination” (Pratityasamutpadagatha), in an Indian script, occupies the periphery and appears to be original.

Tsatsas as Images of Stupas

While most of the major deities of the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon and the main historical figures are represented on these objects, ritual texts primarily advocate the making of miniature stupa-shaped tsatsas (figs. 2 and 3). This directive finds its origin and justification in canonical texts that prescribe depositing certain effective formulas  (), such as the Pratityasamutpadagatha, inside stupas, even tiny ones. Such tsatsas shaped as stupas, reproducible in mass, have been considered privileged receptacles for these “sacralizing” formulas. These formulas can be written on various materials (tree bark, palm leaves, paper, cloth) or impressed on small clay seals and inserted into the miniature stupas. The introduction of these formulas into the moldings is one of the essential ritual steps in the manufacturing process. Thus consecrated, they can be deposited inside newly built stupas (fig. 4) or other receptacles to serve in turn as consecration deposits.

Fig. 2

Molded Clay Image (Tsatsa) of a Stupa Molded in the Round; Toling Monastery, Ngari region, western Tibet; 11th–12th century; sun-dried clay; height approx. 4 in. (10 cm); Toling Monastery; photograph by Rémi Chaix

Fig. 3

Molded Clay Image (Tsatsa) of the “Heaped Lotuses” Stupa; Guge, Ngari region, western Tibet; 11th–12th century; sun-dried clay; 3⅜ × 3⅛ × 1½ in. (8.5 × 8 × 3.7 cm); Private collection; photograph by Rémi Chaix

Fig. 4

Tsatsa deposit inside a stupa in Ensa, Nubra Valley, Ladakh, India; photograph by Kunsang Namgyal-Lama, 2014

In western Tibet, a large number of tsatsas depicting stupas with various architectural shapes were produced between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. They feature some of the distinctive characteristics of the Eight Stupas of the Tathagata (Deshek Chorten Gye) as described by Tibetan scholars, at least from the end of the twelfth century or the beginning of the thirteenth century. Miniature stupas molded in the round are mostly of a cruciform shape (fig. 2), with two flights of stairs at the center of each of the four main sides, under a central dome. This is a model that has sometimes been described as being of the type “Descent from the Heaven of the Thirty-Three Gods” (Lhabab Chorten). However, given their similarity with the remains of monuments built in earlier periods and located in different regions of northwestern India (Kashmir, Afghanistan) and Central Asia (Rawak), we cannot make this identification definitive. Nevertheless, the figuration of the Eight Stupas seems more evident on plaque-shaped tsatsas, where we find not only the “Descent from Heaven” type, with the flight of stairs or the ladder (fig. 5), but also other types, often including the stupa of the “Many Auspicious Doors” (Tashi Gomang Chorten) or of the “Heaped Lotuses” (Pepung Chorten) (fig. 3). The latter is easily identifiable by the ornamentation of lotus petals on its four circular steps, evoking those that miraculously appeared under the very first steps the future Buddha took after his birth. The existence of tsatsas depicting stupas with these architectural features suggests that these models may certainly constitute prototypes for the set of the Eight Stupas of the Tathagata that was standardized about the thirteenth century in Tibet. Interestingly, one tsatsa from Guge produced about the twelfth or thirteenth century illustrates a set of eight different stupas, of which at least five clearly feature the standardized characteristics (fig. 6).

The Functions and Status of Tsatsas

Tsatsas are mainly manufactured during the erection of stupas to serve as consecration deposits and at the end of funerary rituals. Besides these two main contexts, they can be made for other specific purposes in connection with apotropaic, prophylactic, or therapeutic rituals. Their function and status differ depending on the context and purposes for which they are made and may determine the places where they are deposited. They are primarily placed inside stupas or special edifices built to house them (tsakhang), around sacred sites, in holy caves, or inside rock cavities. Tsatsas produced in a funerary context have a different status depending on whether they contain the mortuary remains of an ordinary lay person or of a religious master, in which case they are considered and placed inside funeral stupas, reliquaries (), or statues. Finally, tsatsas have been used as images for portable shrines, including tashi gomang, or as wall decorations (Alchi and Zhalu) (fig. 7).

Fig. 7.

Molded Clay Images (Tsatsas) on the Wall of Yumchenmo Lhakhang, Zhalu Monastery, Tsang region, central Tibet; photograph by Rémi Chaix, 2018

In the Tibetan world, tsatsas are very common objects, and the ritual for making them is performed, individually or collectively, by religious specialists as well as by lay practitioners.12 This practice was envisaged as a simple and efficacious ritual means to accumulate merit and improve one’s . Most of the great Tibetan scholars, such as Nyangrel Nyima Wozer (1124–1192), the Fifth (1617–1682), and Jamgon Kongtrul (1813–1899), composed ritual texts, some of which are still used today as basic manuals. With the propagation of , this practice spread to other countries, such as China and Mongolia, where it underwent remarkable developments in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Footnotes
1

The sojourn in central Tibet of Indian Buddhist masters, authors of ritual texts about the making of tsatsas, such as Shantigarbha, suggests that this practice spread around this period. By the ninth century Tibetans were already performing it, as attested by several Tibetan manuscripts mentioning tsatsas that were discovered in Dunhuang (Gansu), as well as by records of tsatsa texts in the inventories of imperial libraries.

2

Concerning archaeological findings, see Tucci 1988b, 53–109; Huo and Li 2001, 153–72; Jin 2001; Xiong and Li 2016. For ritual texts, see Namgyal-Lama 2013a, 18–34.

3

Mchims nam mkha’ grags 1994, 110, 163; Huber 1992, 496.

4

For Indian or Dunhuang images, see respectively Donaldson 2001, 200–206; Giès and Cohen 1995, 400–405; for further details, see also Chandra 1999, 290–309. Concerning canonical texts related to Amoghapasha, see Wong 2007; Tuladhar-Douglas 2007, 164–66. For other contemporary tsatsas showing Amoghapasha found in Guge, see Xiong and Li 2016, 114–22.

5

Pal 1975a, 140–49.

6

Concerning dharanis and the Pratityasamutpada stanza, see Namgyal-Lama 2013b, 15n59.

7

See Namgyal-Lama 2013b, 5, 17. These formulas can be substituted by a seed deposit (a few grains of either barley or wheat) over which dharanis have been recited beforehand.

8

Concerning the stages in the ritual, see Tucci 1988, 57–60; Namgyal-Lama 2013a, 132–49.

9

Bentor 1995a, 31–37.

10

For examples, see Xiong and Li 2016, 202–43.

11

See Jin 2001, 56n97; Xiong and Li 2016, 227n232.

12

Note that tsatsas can also be made with the three other elements (water, wind, and fire).

Further Reading

Namgyal-Lama, Kunsang. 2013b. “Tsha tsha Inscriptions: A Preliminary Survey.” In Tibetan Inscriptions, edited by Kurt Tropper and Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, 1–41. Brill’s Tibetan Studies Library. Leiden: Brill.

Tucci, Giuseppe. 1988b. Stupa: Art, Architectonics and Symbolism. New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan.

Xiong Wenbin 熊文彬 and Li Yizhi 李逸之. 2016. Xizang Guge caca yishu 西藏古格擦擦艺术  [Art of tsatsa from Guge, Tibet]. Beijing: Zhongguo zangxue chubanshe.

Citation

Kunsang Namgyal-Lama, “Molded Clay Image (Tsatsa) of Amoghapasha: Mass Production of Images as a Ritual Practice,” Project Himalayan Art, Rubin Museum of Art, 2023, http://rubinmuseum.org/projecthimalayanart/essays/molded-clay-image-tsatsa-of-amoghapasha.

consecration

Alternate terms:
rabne

In most Asian religious traditions, when an image of a deity is made, it must be made sacred (“consecrated”) by inviting the deity to inhabit it. A variety of rituals can be involved in this, including dotting the image’s eyes, visualizing the descent of the deity into the image, writing mantras on the back of a thangka, or placing sacred texts and mantras inside of a statue.

dharani

Language:
Sanskrit

In Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, a dharani is a short, Sanskrit language text or spell-like formulas thought to have protective power when written or recited out loud, often as part of a ritual. Often inscribed on objects or at sacred sites, their power through the written physical presence is associated with long life, purification, and protection. Dharanis are similar to mantras, but usually longer. One important dharani is the Ushnishavijaya Dharani. The Pancharaksha is another important text that contains five dharanis of protection.

pratityasamutpada

Language:
Sanskrit
Alternate terms:
dependent origination

In Buddhist philosophical thinking, pratityasamutpada is an explanation of the continuous processes of causation that create the cycle of rebirths. A simple explanation of pratityasamutpada is that no thing or thought exists eternally and of itself; everything that exists arises in dependence on causes and conditions, and passes away, producing further effects. Buddhist logic posits twelve links in this cycle of causation, beginning with ignorance and ending with death. These links are depicted as the outer circular band in the Wheel of Life paintings.

merit

Alternate terms:
punya (Sanskrit), sonam (Tibetan)

In Buddhism, merit is accumulated positive karma, or positive actions, that lead to positive results, such as better rebirths. Buddhists gain merit by reciting mantras, donating to monasteries and those in need, performing pilgrimages, commissioning artworks, reproducing and reciting Buddhist texts, and other deeds with good intentions. It is believed that merit can also be transferred to others through rituals performed to gain merit for deceased family members help them achieve a better rebirth. Merit making is an important motivation for positive ritual action, and is a prerequisite for success of religious and even secular activity.

relic

In the Buddhist context, a relic is an object or body part of a past master or sacred figure, including Buddha Shakyamuni himself (bones, ashes from cremation, even entire mummified bodies). Another important category of relics is called “sharira” in Sanskrit (Tib. ringsel)— small, pearl-like objects that are found within the cremated remains of enlightened teachers. Another category, known as contact relics, includes things owned or touched by religious masters, such as the Buddha’s robe or bowl. Important types widely used in Himalayan regions are dharma relics (dharma sharira), which are pressed clay plaques inscribed with the verse of dependent origination or mantras. Relics can be placed inside stupas, ground up and used for medicine, or kept in temples for the reverence of pilgrims. A container that holds relics is called a “reliquary.”

stupa

Language:
Sanskrit
Alternate terms:
chaitya, chorten

Stupas are monuments that initially contained cremated remains of Buddha Shakyamuni or important monks, his disciples, and subsequently other material and symbolic relics associated with the Buddha’s body, teaching, and enlightened mind. As representations of the Buddha’s presence in the world, stupas with their contents—texts, relics, tsatsas—continue to be important objects of Buddhist worship in their diverse forms of domed structures, multistoried pagodas, and portable sculptures. The original form of stupas was an earthen dome-shaped mound containing the remains in reliquary vessels or urns deposited within the innermost core. The dome would often be successively enlarged and surrounded by a path for a walk around in a clockwise direction and veneration (circumambulation)

tsatsa

Language:
Tibetan

In Tibetan Buddhism, a tsatsa is a small sculpture created by pressing clay into a mold. Tsatsas can depict deities, stupas, auspicious signs, and more. Some tsatsas have medicinal plants, or the cremated ashes of loved ones mixed into the clay and taken to various sacred sites to generate merit for their better rebirth. In Newar context, a grain of rice is added. Tsatsas are created to generate religious merit and are often consecrated and then placed within stupas, or made by pilgrims and devotees and left at sacred sites. Tibetans have been creating tsatsas since around the eleventh century, and tsatsa making remains a common practice among lay devotees today.